Hope, Even in the Era of Kavanaugh

My three-part series about cohabitation will start next week!! In the meantime, here is what I have to say about recent political events.

I’m wearing black today. The cautious optimism I’ve been able to maintain is beginning to fracture. Despite all the hard work we’ve done for centuries, important battles are still lost. Truly awful human beings craving nothing but power are in key decision making roles. If the debacle in Washington wasn’t enough, a couple weeks ago god made his bi-annual set of revelations to the Mormons (which I will definitely keep calling them despite their blatant attempt at re-branding). We all had our fingers crossed thinking he’d do the decent thing and mention that old men shouldn’t have closed door conversations with minor children. Instead, he continued on with the same old anti women’s rights, anti-LGBTQA bullshit, including a slap on the wrist to women in the form of a 10 day social media fast because they were getting a little too rowdy when they opposed the nomination of a certain ill-mannered, accused rapist to the highest court in the nation.

When I saw someone post on Facebook that nothing has changed since Anita Hill testified 27 years ago, my pity party ended abruptly. Let me be crystal clear here. The fight for equal rights is far from over, but to say nothing has changed in the past 27 years does severe injustice to Anita Hill’s brave stance and the progress that has happened since. We should mourn when a fellow human being suffers injustice and their perpetrator gets to be a Supreme Court Justice. We should mourn when men hiding behind a gleaming pillared fortress get to claim they are the voice of god. Mourning is encouraged, a little rage never hurt anyone. What we can’t afford right now is despair. Despair is a direct path to inaction, and I have proof that despite recent pitfalls, women have slowly but surely made steady progress over the past centuries.

If you have been feeling despair at the state of women’s rights, take a few minutes to read this timeline of women’s legal rights. I was going to list them here, but in the past 27 years alone, there are over 300 court proceedings and new laws that support women’s rights. Ten years ago, only seven countries had laws about domestic violence. As of 2015, that number increased to 127. The growth of the Mormon church in 2016 was the lowest since 1937.

If you only see heavy losses for months on end, it really might seem like nothing has changed for women. PTSD is a real disorder, so if you have suffered from sexual abuse, the constant barrage of stories is going to take a heavy toll on your mental health. My hope with this piece is to remind you not all is lost. In the future, people will look back on the #metoo era with similar reverence to every civil rights movement that has made the world a better place.